Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding coding unit of picture boundary

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for encoding an image is provided. An image coding unit, including a region that deviates from a boundary of a current picture, is divided to obtain a coding unit having a smaller size than the size of the image coding unit, and encoding is performed only in a region that does not deviate from the boundary of the current picture. A method and apparatus for decoding an image encoded by the method and apparatus for encoding an image is also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2009-0104421, filed on Oct. 30, 2009, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the exemplary embodiments relateto encoding and decoding an image, and more particularly, to a methodand apparatus for encoding and decoding an image coding unit of apicture boundary.

2. Description of the Related Art

In image compression methods, such as Moving Pictures Experts Group(MPEG)-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC),an image is divided into blocks having a predetermined size so as toencode the image. Then, each of the blocks is prediction-encoded usinginter prediction or intra prediction.

SUMMARY

The exemplary embodiments provide a method and apparatus for encodingand decoding a coding unit of a picture boundary.

The exemplary embodiments also provide a computer readable recordingmedium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method ofencoding and decoding a coding unit of a picture boundary.

According to an aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there is provided amethod of encoding an image, the method including: determining whether afirst coding unit includes a region that deviates from a boundary of acurrent picture; dividing the first coding unit to obtain at least onesecond coding unit based on a result of the determining; and encodingonly a second coding unit that does not deviate from the boundary of thecurrent picture, from among the at least one second coding unitgenerated as a result of the dividing.

When the encoding of the second coding unit that does not deviate fromthe boundary of the current picture is performed, information about thedividing of the first coding unit is not encoded.

The determining of whether the first coding unit includes the regionthat deviates from the boundary of the current picture includesdetermining whether a left or right boundary of the first coding unitdeviates from a left or right boundary of the current picture.

The determining of whether the first coding unit includes the regionthat deviates from the boundary of the current picture includesdetermining whether an upper or lower boundary of the first coding unitdeviates from an upper or lower boundary of the current picture.

According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there isprovided a method of decoding an image, the method including:determining whether a first coding unit includes a region that deviatesfrom a boundary of a current picture; parsing data regarding a secondcoding unit that does not deviate from the boundary of the currentpicture, from among at least one second coding unit generated bydividing the first coding unit based on a result of the determining; anddecoding data regarding the second coding unit that does not deviatefrom the boundary of the current picture.

According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there isprovided an apparatus for encoding an image, the apparatus including: adeterminer determining whether a first coding unit includes a regionthat deviates from a boundary of a current picture; a controllerdividing the first coding unit to obtain at least one second coding unitbased on a result of the determining; and an encoder encoding only asecond coding unit that does not deviate from the boundary of thecurrent picture, from among the at least one second coding unitgenerated as a result of the dividing.

According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there isprovided an apparatus for decoding an image, the apparatus including: adeterminer determining whether a first coding unit includes a regionthat deviates from a boundary of a current picture; a parser parsingdata regarding a second coding unit that does not deviate from theboundary of the current picture, from among at least one second codingunit generated by dividing the first coding unit based on a result ofthe determining; and a decoder decoding data regarding the second codingunit that does not deviate from the boundary of the current picture.

According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiments, there isprovided a computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon aprogram for executing the method of encoding and decoding an image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects will become more apparent by describing indetail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attacheddrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for decoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates hierarchical coding units according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image encoder based on a coding unit,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image decoder based on a coding unit,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a maximum coding unit, a sub coding unit, and aprediction unit, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a coding unit and a transformation unit, according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate division shapes of a coding unit, aprediction unit, and a frequency transformation unit, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a coding unit of a picture boundary,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a method of dividing a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate a method of dividing a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate an intra prediction method according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 14 illustrates indexing of a maximum coding unit, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an apparatus for decoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 18A through 18G illustrate prediction modes in a first coding unitincluding a region that deviates from a boundary of a current picture;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate a method of encoding a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate a method of encoding a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to another exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a listof elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify theindividual elements of the list. In the present specification, an“image” may denote a still image for a video or a moving image, that is,the video itself.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding an image 100,according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus for encoding an image 100 includes amaximum coding unit divider 110, an encoding depth determiner 120, animage data encoder 130, and an encoding information encoder 140.

The maximum coding unit divider 110 can divide a current picture orslice based on a maximum coding unit that is a coding unit of themaximum size. That is, the maximum coding unit divider 110 can dividethe current picture or slice to obtain at least one maximum coding unit.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a coding unit may be representedusing a maximum coding unit and a depth. As described above, the maximumcoding unit indicates a coding unit having the maximum size from amongcoding units of the current picture, and the depth indicates a degreeobtained by hierarchically decreasing the coding unit. As a depthincreases, a coding unit may decrease from a maximum coding unit to aminimum coding unit, wherein a depth of the maximum coding unit isdefined as a minimum depth and a depth of the minimum coding unit isdefined as a maximum depth. Since the size of a coding unit according todepths decreases from a maximum coding unit as a depth increases, a subcoding unit of a k^(th) depth may include a plurality of sub codingunits of a (k+n)^(th) depth (k and n are integers equal to or greaterthan 1).

According to an increase of the size of a picture to be encoded,encoding an image in a greater coding unit may cause a higher imagecompression ratio. However, if a greater coding unit is fixed, an imagemay not be efficiently encoded by reflecting continuously changing imagecharacteristics.

For example, when a smooth area such as the sea or sky is encoded, thegreater a coding unit is, the more a compression ratio may increase.However, when a complex area such as people or buildings is encoded, thesmaller a coding unit is, the more a compression ratio may increase.

Accordingly, according to an exemplary embodiment, a maximum imagecoding unit and a maximum depth having different sizes are set for eachpicture or slice. Since a maximum depth denotes the maximum number oftimes by which a coding unit may decrease, the size of each minimumcoding unit included in a maximum image coding unit may be variably setaccording to a maximum depth.

The encoding depth determiner 120 determines a maximum depth. Themaximum depth may be determined based on calculation of Rate-Distortion(R-D) cost. The maximum depth may be determined differently for eachpicture or slice or for each maximum coding unit. The determined maximumdepth is provided to the encoding information encoder 140, and imagedata according to maximum coding units is provided to the image dataencoder 130.

The maximum depth denotes a coding unit having the smallest size, whichmay be included in a maximum coding unit, i.e., a minimum coding unit.In other words, a maximum coding unit may be divided into sub codingunits having different sizes according to different depths. This isdescribed in detail later with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B. Inaddition, the sub coding units having different sizes, which areincluded in the maximum coding unit, may be prediction- orfrequency-transformed based on processing units having different sizes(values of pixel domains may be transformed into values of frequencydomains, for example, by performing discrete cosine transformation(DCT)). In other words, the apparatus 100 for encoding an image mayperform a plurality of processing operations for image encoding based onprocessing units having various sizes and various shapes. To encodeimage data, processing operations such as prediction, frequencytransformation, and entropy encoding are performed, wherein processingunits having the same size may be used for every operation or processingunits having different sizes may be used for every operation.

For example, the apparatus for encoding an image 100 may select aprocessing unit that is different from a predetermined coding unit topredict the predetermined coding unit.

When the size of a coding unit is 2N×2N (where N is a positive integer),processing units for prediction may be 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, and N×N. Inother words, motion prediction may be performed based on a processingunit having a shape whereby at least one of height and width of a codingunit is equally divided by two. Hereinafter, a processing unit, which isthe base of prediction, is defined as a ‘prediction unit’.

A prediction mode may be at least one of an intra mode, an inter mode,and a skip mode, and a specific prediction mode may be performed foronly a prediction unit having a specific size or shape. For example, theintra mode may be performed for only prediction units having the sizesof 2N×2N and N×N of which the shape is a square. Further, the skip modemay be performed for only a prediction unit having the size of 2N×2N. Ifa plurality of prediction units exist in a coding unit, the predictionmode with the least encoding errors may be selected after performingprediction for every prediction unit.

Alternatively, the apparatus 100 for encoding an image may performfrequency transformation on image data based on a processing unit havinga different size from a coding unit. For the frequency transformation inthe coding unit, the frequency transformation may be performed based ona data unit having a size equal to or smaller than that of the codingunit. Hereinafter, a processing unit, which is the base of frequencytransformation, is defined as a ‘transformation unit’.

The encoding depth determiner 120 may determine sub coding unitsincluded in a maximum coding unit using R-D optimization based on aLagrangian multiplier. In other words, the encoding depth determiner 120may determine which shape a plurality of sub coding units divided fromthe maximum coding unit have, wherein the plurality of sub coding unitshave different sizes according to their depths. The image data encoder130 outputs a bitstream by encoding the maximum coding unit based on thedivision shapes determined by the encoding depth determiner 120.

The encoding information encoder 140 encodes information about anencoding mode of the maximum coding unit determined by the encodingdepth determiner 120. In other words, the encoding information encoder140 outputs a bitstream by encoding information about a division shapeof the maximum coding unit, information about the maximum depth, andinformation about an encoding mode of a sub coding unit for each depth.The information about the encoding mode of the sub coding unit mayinclude information about a prediction unit of the sub coding unit,information about a prediction mode for each prediction unit, andinformation about a transformation unit of the sub coding unit.

Information about division shapes of the maximum coding unit may beinformation that indicates whether each coding unit will be divided ornot. For example, when the maximum coding unit is divided and encoded,information that indicates whether the maximum coding unit will bedivided or not, is encoded, and even when a sub coding unit that isgenerated by dividing the maximum coding unit is sub-divided andencoded, information that indicates whether each sub coding unit will bedivided or not, is encoded. Information that indicates division may bein the form of flag information that indicates division.

Since sub coding units having different sizes exist for each maximumcoding unit and information about an encoding mode must be determinedfor each sub coding unit, information about at least one encoding modemay be determined for one maximum coding unit.

The apparatus 100 for encoding an image may generate sub coding units byequally dividing both height and width of a maximum coding unit by twoaccording to an increase of depth. That is, when the size of a codingunit of a k^(th) depth is 2N×2N, the size of a coding unit of a(k+1)^(th) depth is N×N.

Accordingly, the apparatus 100 for encoding an image according to anexemplary embodiment may determine an optimal division shape for eachmaximum coding unit based on sizes of maximum coding units and a maximumdepth in consideration of image characteristics. By variably controllingthe size of a maximum coding unit in consideration of imagecharacteristics and encoding an image through division of a maximumcoding unit into sub coding units of different depths, images havingvarious resolutions may be more efficiently encoded.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus 200 for decoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the apparatus 200 for decoding an image includes animage data acquisition unit 210, an encoding information extractor 220,and an image data decoder 230.

The image data acquisition unit 210 acquires image data according tomaximum coding units by parsing a bitstream received by the apparatus200 for decoding an image and outputs the image data to the image datadecoder 230. The image data acquisition unit 210 may extract informationabout a maximum coding unit of a current picture or slice from a headerof the current picture or slice. In other words, the image dataacquisition unit 210 divides the bitstream in the maximum coding unit sothat the image data decoder 230 may decode the image data according tomaximum coding units.

The encoding information extractor 220 extracts information about amaximum coding unit, a maximum depth, a division shape of the maximumcoding unit, an encoding mode of sub coding units from the header of thecurrent picture by parsing the bitstream received by the apparatus 200for decoding an image. The information about a division shape and theinformation about an encoding mode are provided to the image datadecoder 230.

The information about a division shape of the maximum coding unit mayinclude information about sub coding units having different sizesaccording to depths included in the maximum coding unit. As describedabove, the information about a division shape of the maximum coding unitmay be information that indicates division encoded information for eachcoding unit, for example, flag information.

The information about an encoding mode may include information about aprediction unit according to a sub coding unit, information about aprediction mode, and information about a transformation unit.

The image data decoder 230 restores the current picture by decodingimage data of every maximum coding unit based on the informationextracted by the encoding information extractor 220.

The image data decoder 230 may decode sub coding units included in amaximum coding unit based on the information about a division shape ofthe maximum coding unit. A decoding process may include a motionprediction process including intra prediction and motion compensationand an inverse frequency transformation process.

The image data decoder 230 may perform intra prediction or interprediction based on information about a prediction unit according to subcoding units and information about a prediction mode in order to predicta sub coding unit. The image data decoder 230 may also perform inversefrequency transformation for each sub coding unit based on informationabout a transformation unit of a sub coding unit.

FIG. 3 illustrates hierarchical coding units according to an exemplaryembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the hierarchical coding units according to anexemplary embodiment may include coding units whose width×heightdimensions are 64×64, 32×32, 16×16, 8×8, and 4×4. Besides these codingunits having perfect square shapes, coding units whose width×heightdimensions are 64×32, 32×64, 32×16, 16×32, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, and 4×8 mayalso exist.

Referring to FIG. 3, for image data 310 whose resolution is 1920×1080,the size of a maximum coding unit is set to 64×64, and a maximum depthis set to 2.

For image data 320 whose resolution is 1920×1080, the size of a maximumcoding unit is set to 64×64, and a maximum depth is set to 3. For imagedata 330 whose resolution is 352×288, the size of a maximum coding unitis set to 16×16, and a maximum depth is set to 1.

When the resolution is high or the amount of data is great, it ispreferable that a maximum size of a coding unit is relatively great toincrease a compression ratio and exactly reflect image characteristics.Accordingly, for the image data 310 and 320 having higher resolutionthan the image data 330, 64×64 may be selected as the size of a maximumcoding unit.

A maximum depth indicates the total number of layers in the hierarchicalcoding units. Since the maximum depth of the image data 310 is 2, acoding unit 315 of the image data 310 may include a maximum coding unitwhose longer axis size is 64 and sub coding units whose longer axissizes are 32 and 16, according to an increase in depth.

On the other hand, since the maximum depth of the image data 330 is 1, acoding unit 335 of the image data 330 may include a maximum coding unitwhose longer axis size is 16 and coding units whose longer axis sizesare 8 and 4, according to an increase in depth.

However, since the maximum depth of the image data 320 is 3, a codingunit 325 of the image data 320 may include a maximum coding unit whoselonger axis size is 64 and sub coding units whose longer axis sizes are32, 16, 8 and 4 according to an increase in depth. Since an image isencoded based on a smaller sub coding unit as the depth increases, theexemplary embodiment is suitable for encoding an image including moreminute scenes.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image encoder 400 based on a codingunit, according to an exemplary embodiment.

An intra prediction unit 410 performs intra prediction on predictionunits of the intra mode in a current frame 405, and a motion estimator420 and a motion compensator 425 perform inter prediction and motioncompensation on prediction units of the inter mode using the currentframe 405 and a reference frame 495.

Residual values are generated based on the prediction units output fromthe intra prediction unit 410, the motion estimator 420, and the motioncompensator 425, and the generated residual values are output asquantized transform coefficients by passing through a frequencytransformation unit 430 and a quantizer 440.

The quantized transform coefficients are restored to residual values bypassing through an inverse-quantizer 460 and an inverse frequencytransformation unit 470, and the restored residual values arepost-processed by passing through a deblocking unit 480 and a loopfiltering unit 490 and output as the reference frame 495. The quantizedtransform coefficients may be output as a bitstream 455 by passingthrough an entropy encoder 450.

To perform encoding based on an encoding method according to anexemplary embodiment, components of the image encoder 400, i.e., theintra prediction unit 410, the motion estimator 420, the motioncompensator 425, the frequency transformation unit 430, the quantizer440, the entropy encoder 450, the inverse-quantizer 460, the inversefrequency transformation unit 470, the deblocking unit 480 and the loopfiltering unit 490, perform image encoding processes based on a maximumcoding unit, a sub coding unit according to depths, a prediction unit,and a transformation unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image decoder 500 based on a codingunit, according to an exemplary embodiment.

A bitstream 505 passes through a parser 510 so that encoded image datato be decoded and encoding information necessary for decoding areparsed. The encoded image data is output as inverse-quantized data bypassing through an entropy decoder 520 and an inverse-quantizer 530 andrestored to residual values by passing through an inverse frequencytransformation unit 540. The residual values are restored according tocoding units by being added to an intra prediction result of an intraprediction unit 550 or a motion compensation result of a motioncompensator 560. The restored coding units are used for prediction ofnext coding units or a next picture by passing through a deblocking unit570 and a loop filtering unit 580.

To perform decoding based on a decoding method according to an exemplaryembodiment, components of the image decoder 500, i.e., the parser 510,the entropy decoder 520, the inverse-quantizer 530, the inversefrequency transformation unit 540, the intra prediction unit 550, themotion compensator 560, the deblocking unit 570 and the loop filteringunit 580, perform image decoding processes based on a maximum codingunit, a sub coding unit according to depths, a prediction unit, and atransformation unit.

In particular, the intra prediction unit 550 and the motion compensator560 determine a prediction unit and a prediction mode in a sub codingunit by considering a maximum coding unit and a depth, and the inversefrequency transformation unit 540 performs inverse frequencytransformation by considering the size of a transformation unit.

FIG. 6 illustrates a maximum coding unit, a sub coding unit, and aprediction unit, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The apparatus 100 for encoding an image and the apparatus 200 fordecoding an image according to an exemplary embodiment use hierarchicalcoding units to perform encoding and decoding in consideration of imagecharacteristics. A maximum coding unit and a maximum depth may beadaptively set according to the image characteristics or variously setaccording to requirements of a user.

A hierarchical coding unit structure 600 according to an exemplaryembodiment illustrates a maximum coding unit 610 whose height and widthare 64×64 and maximum depth is 4. A depth increases along a verticalaxis of the hierarchical coding unit structure 600, and as a depthincreases, heights and widths of sub coding units 620 to 650 decrease.Prediction units of the maximum coding unit 610 and the sub coding units620 to 650 are shown along a horizontal axis of the hierarchical codingunit structure 600.

The maximum coding unit 610 has a depth of 0 and the size of a codingunit, i.e., height and width, of 64×64. A depth increases along thevertical axis, and there exist a sub coding unit 620 whose size is 32×32and depth is 1, a sub coding unit 630 whose size is 16×16 and depth is2, a sub coding unit 640 whose size is 8×8 and depth is 3, and a subcoding unit 650 whose size is 4×4 and depth is 4. The sub coding unit650 whose size is 4×4 and depth is 4 is a minimum coding unit.

Referring to FIG. 6, examples of a prediction unit are shown along thehorizontal axis according to each depth. That is, a prediction unit ofthe maximum coding unit 610 whose depth is 0 may be a prediction unitwhose size is equal to the coding unit 610, i.e., 64×64, or a predictionunit 612 whose size is 64×32, a prediction unit 614 whose size is 32×64,or a prediction unit 616 whose size is 32×32, which all have sizessmaller than the coding unit 610 whose size is 64×64.

A prediction unit of the coding unit 620 whose depth is 1 and size is32×32 may be a prediction unit whose size is equal to the coding unit620, i.e., 32×32, or a prediction unit 622 whose size is 32×16, aprediction unit 624 whose size is 16×32, or a prediction unit 626 whosesize is 16×16, which all have sizes smaller than the coding unit 620whose size is 32×32.

A prediction unit of the coding unit 630 whose depth is 2 and size is16×16 may be a prediction unit whose size is equal to the coding unit630, i.e., 16×16, or a prediction unit 632 whose size is 16×8, aprediction unit 634 whose size is 8×16, or a prediction unit 636 whosesize is 8×8, which all have sizes smaller than the coding unit 630 whosesize is 16×16.

A prediction unit of the coding unit 640 whose depth is 3 and size is8×8 may be a prediction unit whose size is equal to the coding unit 640,i.e., 8×8, or a prediction unit 642 whose size is 8×4, a prediction unit644 whose size is 4×8, or a prediction unit 646 whose size is 4×4, whichall have sizes smaller than the coding unit 640 whose size is 8×8.

Finally, the coding unit 650 whose depth is 4 and size is 4×4 is aminimum coding unit and a coding unit of a maximum depth, and aprediction unit of the coding unit 650 is a prediction unit 650 whosesize is 4×4.

FIG. 7 illustrates a coding unit and a transformation unit, according toan exemplary embodiment.

The apparatus for encoding an image 100 and the apparatus for decodingan image 200, according to an exemplary embodiment, perform encodingwith a maximum coding unit itself or with sub coding units, which areequal to or smaller than the maximum coding unit, and are divided fromthe maximum coding unit.

In the encoding process, the size of a transformation unit for frequencytransformation is selected to be no larger than that of a correspondingcoding unit. For example, when a current coding unit 710 has the size of64×64, frequency transformation may be performed using a transformationunit 720 having the size of 32×32.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate division shapes of a coding unit, aprediction unit, and a frequency transformation unit, according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8A illustrates a coding unit and a prediction unit, according to anexemplary embodiment.

A left side of FIG. 8A shows a division shape selected by the apparatus100 for encoding an image, according to an exemplary embodiment, inorder to encode a maximum coding unit 810. The apparatus 100 forencoding an image divides the maximum coding unit 810 into variousshapes, performs encoding, and selects an optimal division shape bycomparing encoding results of various division shapes with each otherbased on R-D cost. When it is optimal that the maximum coding unit 810is encoded as it is, the maximum coding unit 810 may be encoded withoutdividing the maximum coding unit 810 as illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B.

Referring to the left side of FIG. 8A, the maximum coding unit 810 whosedepth is 0 is encoded by dividing it into sub coding units whose depthsare equal to or greater than 1. That is, the maximum coding unit 810 isdivided into 4 sub coding units whose depths are 1, and all or some ofthe sub coding units whose depths are 1 are divided into sub codingunits whose depths are 2.

A sub coding unit located in an upper-right side and a sub coding unitlocated in a lower-left side among the sub coding units whose depths are1 are divided into sub coding units whose depths are equal to or greaterthan 2. Some of the sub coding units whose depths are equal to orgreater than 2 may be divided into sub coding units whose depths areequal to or greater than 3.

The right side of FIG. 8A shows a division shape of a prediction unit860 for the maximum coding unit 810.

Referring to the right side of FIG. 8A, a prediction unit 860 for themaximum coding unit 810 may be divided differently from the maximumcoding unit 810. In other words, a prediction unit for each sub codingunit may be smaller than a corresponding sub coding unit.

For example, a prediction unit for a sub coding unit 854 located in alower-right side among the sub coding units whose depths are 1 may besmaller than the sub coding unit 854 of the encoding unit 810. Inaddition, prediction units for some (814, 816, 850, and 852) of subcoding units 814, 816, 818, 828, 850, and 852 whose depths are 2 may besmaller than the sub coding units 814, 816, 850, and 852, respectively.In addition, prediction units for sub coding units 822, 832, and 848whose depths are 3 may be smaller than the sub coding units 822, 832,and 848, respectively. The prediction units may have a shape wherebyrespective sub coding units are equally divided by two in a direction ofheight or width or have a shape whereby respective sub coding units areequally divided by four in directions of height and width.

FIG. 8B illustrates a prediction unit and a transformation unit,according to an exemplary embodiment.

A left side of FIG. 8B shows a division shape of a prediction unit forthe maximum coding unit 810 shown in the right side of FIG. 8A, and aright side of FIG. 8B shows a division shape of a transformation unit ofthe maximum coding unit 810.

Referring to the right side of FIG. 8B, a division shape of atransformation unit 870 may be set differently from the prediction unit860.

For example, even though a prediction unit for the coding unit 854 whosedepth is 1 is selected with a shape whereby the height of the codingunit 854 is equally divided by two, a transformation unit may beselected with the same size as the coding unit 854. Likewise, eventhough prediction units for coding units 814 and 850 whose depths are 2are selected with a shape whereby the height of each of the coding units814 and 850 is equally divided by two, a transformation unit may beselected with the same size as the original size of each of the codingunits 814 and 850.

A transformation unit may be selected with a smaller size than aprediction unit. For example, when a prediction unit for the coding unit852 whose depth is 2 is selected with a shape whereby the width of thecoding unit 852 is equally divided by two, a transformation unit may beselected with a shape whereby the coding unit 852 is equally divided byfour in directions of height and width, and has a smaller size than theshape of the prediction unit.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding an image 900according to another exemplary embodiment of.

Referring to FIG. 9, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image accordingto the current exemplary embodiment includes a determiner 910, acontroller 920, and an encoder 930. The apparatus 900 for encoding animage may be an apparatus for encoding an image based on a coding unit,a prediction unit, and a transformation unit whose sizes are stepwisevaried according to the depths described above.

The determiner 910 determines whether a first coding unit input to theapparatus 900 for encoding an image in order to perform encodingincludes a region that deviates from a boundary of a current picture.

When the first coding unit does not include the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture, the apparatus 900 for encodingan image encodes the first coding unit as it is. The apparatus 900 forencoding an image may also perform prediction and transformation, forexample, DCT, without dividing the first coding unit or may also dividethe first coding unit into a plurality of coding units according to apredetermined depth, as described above with reference to FIGS. 2, 6, 8Aand 8B.

However, when the first coding unit includes the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture, the apparatus 900 for encodingan image divides the first coding unit into second coding units andencodes only the second coding unit that does not deviate from theboundary of the current picture.

In other words, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image encodes thefirst coding unit by using different encoding methods depending onwhether the first coding unit includes the region that deviates from theboundary of the current picture. Thus, the determiner 910 firstlydetermines whether the first coding unit includes the region thatdeviates from the boundary of the current picture. This will bedescribed later with reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a coding unit of a picture boundary,according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, a first coding unit 1020 extends over aboundary 1010 of a current picture. When the size of the current pictureis not a multiple of the size of a maximum coding unit, for example,when the size of the maximum coding unit is set to 32×32 so as to encodethe current picture and the width or height of the current picture isnot a multiple of 32, the maximum coding unit may include a region 1024that deviates from the boundary 1010 of the current picture. Likewise,the first coding unit 1040 may include a region 1044 that deviates froma boundary 1030 of the current picture, as illustrated in FIG. 10B. InFIG. 10A, a left side of the boundary 1010 of the current picture is aninternal region of the current picture, and a right side of the boundary1010 of the current picture is an external region of the currentpicture. In FIG. 10B, an upper portion of the boundary 1030 of thecurrent picture is an internal region of the current picture, and alower portion of the boundary 1030 of the current picture is an externalregion of the current picture.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a case where the first coding unit 1020 or1040 extends over the right and lower boundaries of the current picture.However, the first coding unit 1020 or 1040 may also extend over theleft and upper boundaries of the current picture.

The determiner 910 compares the boundary of the first coding unit 1020or 1040 with the boundary of the current picture so as to determinewhether the first coding unit 1020 or 1040 includes the region thatdeviates from the boundary 1010 or 1030 of the current picture.

When the right boundary of the first coding unit 1020 deviates from theright boundary of the current picture or the left boundary of the firstcoding unit 1020 deviates from the left boundary of the current picture,the determiner 910 may determine that the first coding unit 1020includes the region that deviates from the boundary 1010 of the currentpicture. In addition, when the lower boundary of the first coding unit1040 deviates from the lower boundary of the current picture or theupper boundary of the first coding unit 1040 deviates from the upperboundary of the current picture, the determiner 910 may determine thatthe first coding unit 1040 includes the region that deviates from theboundary 1030 of the current picture.

Referring back to FIG. 9, when the determiner 910 determines that thefirst coding unit 1020 or 1040 includes the region that deviates fromthe boundary 1010 or 1030 of the current picture, the controller 920divides the first coding unit 1020 or 1040 into second coding units.

The apparatus for encoding an image 900 according to an exemplaryembodiment may encode and decode an image by using the hierarchicalcoding units described above. The apparatus for encoding an image 900may encode and decode an image by dividing the maximum coding unit intosub coding units having predetermined depths. In this regard, the depthsindicate degrees of stepwise decreasing from the size of the maximumcoding unit to the size of a predetermined sub coding unit.

The controller 920 divides the first coding unit 1020 into second codingunits according to the depths. For example, when the first coding unit1020 is a maximum coding unit having a depth of 0, the controller 1020may divide the first coding unit 1020 into at least one coding unithaving a depth of 1. The controller 920 may also divide the first codingunit 1020 into a coding unit having a larger depth than the coding unithaving a depth of 1, i.e., into a coding unit having a depth of 2 ormore. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 11Aand 11B.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a method of dividing a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11A illustrates a case where the first coding unit 1020 illustratedin FIG. 10A is divided into second coding units 1110, 1120, 1130, and1140. When the first coding unit 1020 extends over the picture boundary,the first coding unit 1020 includes the region 1024 that deviates fromthe boundary of the current picture, as described with reference to FIG.10A.

The first coding unit 1020 is divided into second coding units 1110,1120, 1130, and 1140 having different depths and is distinguished fromthe second coding units 1110 and 1120 in the region that does notdeviate from the boundary of the current picture and is distinguishedfrom the second coding units 1130 and 1140 in the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture.

FIG. 11B illustrates a case where the first coding unit 1040 illustratedin FIG. 10B is divided into second coding units 1150, 1160, 1170, and1180.

The first coding unit 1040 is divided into second coding units 1150,1160, 1170, and 1180 having different depths and is distinguished fromthe second coding units 1150 and 1160 in the region that does notdeviate from the boundary of the current picture and is distinguishedfrom the second coding units 1170 and 1180 in the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a case where, when the first coding unit1020 or 1040 is divided into four second coding units having the samesize, the first coding unit 1020 or 1040 may be distinguished fromsecond coding units in the region that does not deviate from theboundary of the current picture and distinguished from second codingunits in the region that deviates from the boundary of the currentpicture. However, even when the first coding unit 1020 or 1040 isdivided into four second coding units having the same size, the firstcoding unit 1020 or 1040 may not be distinguished from second codingunits in the region that does not deviate from the boundary of thecurrent picture or distinguished from the region that deviates from theboundary of the current picture. This will be described with referenceto FIGS. 12A and 12B in detail.

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate a method of dividing a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to another exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 12A, when the first coding unit 1220 ispositioned at the picture boundary, even when the first coding unit 1220is divided into second coding units 1230, 1240, 1250, and 1260, thefirst coding unit 1220 may not be distinguished from second coding unitsin the region that deviates from the boundary of the current picture ordistinguished from second coding units in the region that does notdeviate from the boundary of the current picture. The reason for this isthat the second coding units 1250 and 1260 still include the region thatdeviates from the boundary of the current picture and the region thatdoes not deviate from the boundary of the current picture.

Thus, when the first coding unit 1220 is positioned at the pictureboundary, the first coding unit 1220 is repeatedly divided, asillustrated in FIG. 12A. In FIG. 12A, the second coding units 1250 and1260 are further divided to generate third coding units 1252 through1258 and 1262 through 1268.

By further dividing the second coding units 1250 and 1260 into thirdcoding units having smaller sizes than those of the second coding units1250 and 1260, the first coding unit 1220 may be distinguished from thecoding units 1230, 1240, 1252, 1254, 1262, and 1264 in the region thatdoes not deviate from the boundary of the current picture anddistinguished from the coding units 1256, 1258, 1266, and 1268 in theregion that deviates from the boundary of the current picture.

Referring back to FIG. 9, when the first coding unit 1020, 1040 or 1220is divided by the controller 920 to be distinguished from coding unitsin the region that deviates from the boundary of the current picture anddistinguished from coding units in the region that does not deviate fromthe boundary of the current picture, as illustrated in FIGS. 11A, 11B,and 12B, the encoder 930 encodes only coding units that are in theregion that does not deviate from the boundary of the current picture,from among the coding units generated by dividing the first coding unit.

When the first coding unit does not include the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture, all first coding units areencoded. The apparatus for encoding an image 900 may also performprediction and frequency transformation, for example, DCT, withoutdividing the first coding unit or may also divide the first coding unitinto a plurality of coding units according to a predetermined depth, asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 2, 6, 8A and 8B.

However, when the first coding unit includes the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture, only pixel values of theregion that does not deviate from the boundary of the current pictureare encoded according to the division result of the controller 920.

The second coding units 1110 and 1120 positioned at the left side ofFIG. 11A are encoded, and the second coding units 1150 and 1160positioned at the upper portion of FIG. 11B are encoded. The secondcoding units 1230 and 1240 positioned at the left side of FIG. 12B andthe third coding units 1252, 1254, 1262, and 1264 positioned at the leftside of FIG. 12B are encoded. The coding unit that does not deviate fromthe boundary of the current picture is predicted based on apredetermined prediction unit, and residual values generated accordingto the result of prediction are transformed based on a predeterminedtransformation unit.

The apparatus for encoding an image 900 according to an exemplaryembodiment may encode only pixel values that do not deviate from theboundary of the current picture, from among first pixel units positionedat the picture boundary, so that a compression ratio may be preventedfrom being lowered by encoding of unnecessary pixel values that deviatefrom the boundary of the current picture.

Also, information about division of the encoder 930, for example, flaginformation that indicates division of the encoder 930 may be optionallyencoded. When the first coding unit extends over the picture boundary,the first coding unit is divided by the controller 920. Since divisionis necessary for encoding only pixel values of a region that does notdeviate from the boundary of the current picture, information aboutdivision of the first coding unit does not need to be encoded. Thereason for this is that, even when information about division of theencoder 930 is not separately encoded, a decoder may know that the firstcoding unit is divided. However, according to another exemplaryembodiment, even when division of the first coding unit is necessary,information about division of the encoder 930 may also be separatelyencoded.

However, since the encoder 930 does not encode pixel values in theregion that deviates from the boundary of the current picture by usingthe method of encoding an image described above, the first coding unitthat extends over the boundary of the current picture may not be used inprediction of other coding units. This will be described in detail withreference to FIGS. 13A and 13B.

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate an intra prediction method according to anexemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 13A, in the intra prediction method according to thecurrent exemplary embodiment, when a predetermined prediction unit 1310is intra-predicted, adjacent pixel values 1320 that have been previouslyencoded may be used. In particular, in intra prediction according to thecurrent exemplary embodiment, pixels having a height of ‘PuSize’ may befurther used in a lengthwise direction of the lower-left side of theprediction unit 1310.

In the method of encoding an image, according to the exemplaryembodiments, the image is encoded using the hierarchical coding unit, asillustrated in FIG. 8A. Thus, intra prediction may be performed usingpixels that are adjacent to the left side of the prediction unit 1310 aswell as pixels that are adjacent to the lower-left side of theprediction unit 1310. For example, when a sub coding unit 830illustrated in FIG. 8A is intra-predicted, intra prediction may beperformed using pixels that are adjacent to the left side and thelower-left side of the sub coding unit 830, i.e., pixels included in asub coding unit 828, as well as pixels that are adjacent to the upperportion and upper-right side of the sub coding unit 830, i.e., pixelsincluded in the sub coding unit 812.

However, pixels that are adjacent to the upper-right side and thelower-left side of a coding unit may be unavailable. When a coding unit1330 is encoded, as illustrated in FIG. 13B, some pixel values 1346among pixel values that are adjacent to the upper-right side of thecoding unit 1330 may not be used. The reason for this is that, when acoding unit 1340 that is positioned at the upper-right side of thecoding unit 1340 is encoded, a coding unit 1344 in a region thatdeviates from a boundary 1350 of the current picture is not encoded.Thus, adjacent pixels that may be used in intra prediction of the codingunit 1330 may be only pixels that are adjacent to the upper portion, theleft side, and the lower-left side of the coding unit 1330.

The encoder 930 determines whether ‘cux+cuSize+cuSize’ is larger than‘Frame_width’ described above, so as to determine whether pixels thatare adjacent to the upper-right side of the coding unit 1330 may beused. ‘cux’ is an X-coordinate of the left boundary of the coding unit1330, and ‘cuSize’ is a width and a height of the coding unit 1330, and‘Frame_width’ is a width of the current picture.

Also, the encoder 930 determines whether ‘cuy+cuSize+cuSize’ is largerthan ‘Frame_height’ described above, so as to determine whether pixelsthat are adjacent to the lower-left side of the coding unit 1330 may beused. ‘cuy’ is an Y-coordinate of the upper boundary of the coding unit1330, and ‘cuSize’ is a width and a height of the coding unit 1330, and‘Frame_height’ is a height of the current picture.

The encoder 930 may encode information about an encoding method, i.e.,information about an encoding mode, based on whether the first codingunit includes the region that deviates from the boundary of the currentpicture. When the first coding unit includes the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture, the encoder 930 may encodeinformation about an encoding mode so that the first encoding mode mayindicate a second encoding mode.

The case where information about a prediction mode in the first codingunit is encoded will be described with reference to FIGS. 18A through18G.

FIGS. 18A through 18G illustrate prediction modes in a first coding unithaving a size of 2N×2N including a region that deviates from theboundary of the current picture. Hatched portions of FIGS. 18A through18H indicate regions that deviate from the boundary of the currentpicture.

Referring to FIG. 18A, a right N×2N region of a first coding unit havingthe size of 2N×2N is the region that deviates from the boundary of thecurrent picture. When the encoder 930 encodes the first coding unitillustrated in FIG. 18A and selects a prediction mode in the firstcoding unit having the size of 2N×2N, prediction is not performed in theregion that deviates from the boundary of the current picture. Thus, theencoder 930 performs prediction in a N×2N prediction mode.

In other words, even when the encoder 930 sets the prediction mode ofthe first coding unit to a 2N×2N prediction mode, prediction isperformed in the same manner as the manner in which the prediction modeof the first coding unit is set to a N×2N prediction mode. Thus, theN×2N does not need to be separately set, and information about the 2N×2Nprediction mode may be used as information about the N×2N predictionmode. This is the same as the effect that the type of a prediction modeis decreased. Thus, the encoder 930 may decrease the number of bits thatare necessary for encoding the information about the prediction mode.

Likewise, in FIG. 18B, the encoder 930 may replace a 2N×N predictionmode by setting the prediction mode of the first coding unit to the2N×2N prediction mode.

In FIG. 18C, the encoder 930 may replace a 2N×N/2 prediction mode bysetting the prediction mode of the first coding unit to the 2N×2Nprediction mode. In FIG. 18C, the height of a predicted region isdecreased by ½ compared to FIG. 18B. However, like in FIG. 18B,prediction is performed only in the region that does not deviate fromthe boundary of the current picture. Thus, a 2N×N/2 prediction mode maybe replaced by setting the prediction mode of the first coding unit tothe 2N×2N prediction mode.

In FIG. 18D, the encoder 930 may replace the 2N×N prediction mode bysetting the prediction mode of the first coding unit to a N×N predictionmode. When the first coding unit illustrated in FIG. 18D is predicted inthe 2N×N prediction mode and the right half of the first coding unit isincluded in the region that deviates from the boundary of the currentpicture, the first coding unit having a size of N×N is predicted like inthe N×N prediction mode. Thus, the 2N×N prediction mode may be replacedwith the N×N prediction mode.

In FIG. 18E, the encoder 930 may replace the 2N×N/2 prediction mode bysetting the prediction mode of the first coding unit to the 2N×Nprediction mode. Prediction is performed based on two prediction unitswhose heights are decreased by ½ compared to FIG. 18B. Thus, theprediction mode of the first coding unit may be set to the 2N×Nprediction mode whose height is decreased by ½ from the 2N×2N predictionmode set in FIG. 18B.

In FIG. 18F, the encoder 930 may replace the N×N prediction mode bysetting the prediction mode of the first coding unit to the 2N×2Nprediction mode. Prediction of the first coding unit illustrated in FIG.18F is also performed only in the region that does not deviate from theboundary of the current picture, like in FIGS. 18A, 18B, and 18C. Thus,the N×N prediction mode may be replaced by setting the prediction modeof the first coding unit to the 2N×2N prediction mode.

In FIG. 18G, the encoder 930 may replace the N/2×N prediction mode bysetting the prediction mode of the first coding unit to the N×2Nprediction mode. Prediction is performed based on two prediction unitswhose widths are decreased by ½ compared to FIG. 18F. Thus, theprediction mode in the first coding unit may be set to the N×2Nprediction mode whose width is decreased by ½ from the 2N×2N predictionmode set in FIG. 18B.

Encoding by the apparatus 900 for encoding an image described above withreference to FIGS. 9 through 13 may be performed with the followingprogramming syntax.

UInt uiLPelX UInt uiRPelX UInt uiTPelY UInt uiBPelY if( !(( uiRPelX <pcCU−>getSlice( )−>getWidth( ) ) && ( uiBPelY < pcCU−>getSlice()−>getHeight( ) ) )) { go_next_depth_process(); }

Referring to the programming syntax, a X-coordinate of a left boundary,an X-coordinate of a right boundary, an Y-coordinate of an upperboundary, and a lower Y-coordinate of a lower boundary of the firstcoding unit are obtained by using functions, such as ‘UInt uiLPeLX’,‘UInt uiRPeLX’, ‘UInt uiTPeLY’, and ‘UInt uiBPeLY’, and the width andheight of the current picture are obtained using ‘pcCU→getSlice()→getWidth( )’ and pcCU→getSlice( )→getHeight( )’.

Then, the X-coordinate of a left boundary of the first coding unit andthe width of the current picture are compared to each other, and theY-coordinate of a lower boundary of the first coding unit and the heightof the current picture are compared to each other. When the X-coordinateof a left boundary of the first coding unit is larger than the width ofthe current picture or the Y-coordinate of the lower boundary of thefirst coding unit is larger than the height of the current picture, bycalling a function ‘go_next_depth_process( )’, the first coding unit isdivided into a second coding unit having a next depth, i.e., a depth of‘k+1’ that is larger than a depth ‘k’ of the first coding unit, and onlythe second coding unit that does not deviate from the boundary of thecurrent picture is encoded.

However, even when the apparatus 900 for encoding an image encodes onlythe region that does not deviate from the boundary of the currentpicture, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 through 13, an address of a maximumencoding unit is set on the assumption that the region that deviatesfrom the boundary of the current picture is also encoded. This will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 14 in detail.

FIG. 14 illustrates indexing of a maximum coding unit, according to anexemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 14, when a current picture 1410 is divided into themaximum coding unit having a predetermined size and is encoded, if thewidth of the current picture 1410 ‘Frame_width’ and the height thereof‘Frame_height’ are not a multiple of a width of the maximum coding unit,maximum coding units extend over the right and lower boundaries of thecurrent picture 1410, as illustrated in FIG. 14.

In FIGS. 9 through 13, when the apparatus 900 for encoding an imageencodes the maximum coding unit that extends over the boundary of thecurrent picture, encoding is performed only in the region that does notdeviate from the boundary of the current picture. However, when theaddress of the maximum coding unit is set, the address of the maximumcoding is based not on ‘Frame_width’ and ‘Frame_height’ but on‘Frame_widthN’ and ‘Frame_heightN’. In other words, the address of themaximum coding unit is set by assigning an address to a maximum codingunit that extends over the right boundary and the lower boundary of thecurrent picture.

For example, a maximum coding unit that is positioned at the rightmostportion of a first row extends over the right boundary of the currentpicture, encoding is performed only in the region that does not deviatefrom the boundary of the current picture, and ‘P’ is assigned to themaximum coding unit as an address. Thus, an address of a maximum codingunit that is positioned at the leftmost portion of a second row is‘P+1’. ‘Frame_widthN’ and ‘Frame_heightN’ may be calculated as follows.

If Frame_width%LcuSize not equal to 0, Frame_widthN =(Frame_width/LcuSize+1)*LcuSize If Frame_height%LcuSize not equal to 0,Frame_heightN = (Frame_height/LcuSize+1)*LcuSize

In the above calculation, ‘Frame_width % LcuSize’ represents a remainderthat is obtained by dividing ‘Frame_width’ by ‘LcuSize’, and‘Frame_height % LcuSize’ represents a remainder that is obtained bydividing ‘Frame_height’ by ‘LcuSize’. ‘Frame_width/LcuSize’ represents aquotient that is obtained by dividing ‘Frame_width’ by ‘LcuSize’, and‘Frame_height/LcuSize’ represents a quotient that is obtained bydividing ‘Frame_height’ by ‘LcuSize’. ‘LcuSize’ represents a width and aheight of a maximum coding unit when the maximum coding unit has aperfect rectangular shape.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 15, in Operation 1510, the apparatus 900 for encodingan image determines whether a first coding unit includes a region thatdeviates from a boundary of a current picture. Since the first codingunit extends over a picture boundary, as illustrated in FIGS. 10A, 10B,and 12A, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image determines whether thefirst coding unit includes the region that deviates from the boundary ofthe current picture. In order to determine whether the first coding unitincludes the region that deviates from the boundary of the currentpicture, the boundary of the current picture and a boundary of the firstcoding unit are compared to each other. The apparatus 900 for encodingan image determines whether the left or right boundary of the firstcoding unit deviates from the left or right boundary of the currentpicture or whether the upper or lower boundary of the first coding unitdeviates from the upper or lower boundary of the current picture.

In Operation 1520, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image divides thefirst coding unit to obtain second coding units based on the result ofdetermination in Operation 1510. The apparatus 900 for encoding an imagemay divide the first coding unit to obtain the second coding units eachhaving a depth of ‘k+1’ that is larger than a depth of ‘k’ of the firstcoding unit. Although the first coding unit has been divided to obtainthe second coding unit, if it is determined again that the second codingunit includes the region that deviates from the picture boundary, thefirst coding unit is divided until a coding unit generated by repeateddivision does not include the region that deviates from the pictureboundary.

In Operation 1530, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image encodes onlythe second coding unit that does not deviate from the picture boundaryamong the second coding units generated as a result of division inOperation 1520. The apparatus 900 for encoding an image predicts thesecond coding units, generates residual values and performstransformation, quantization, and entropy encoding on the residualvalues. Also, since division of the first coding unit that extends overthe picture boundary is necessary in the apparatus 900 for encoding animage, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image may not encodeinformation about division of the first coding unit.

In addition, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image may encodeinformation about an encoding mode encoded depending on whether thefirst coding unit includes the region that deviates from the pictureboundary, as described above with reference to FIGS. 18A through 18G.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an apparatus for decoding an image 1600according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 16, the apparatus 1600 for decoding an image accordingto the current exemplary embodiment includes a determiner 1610, a parser1620, and a decoder 1630.

The determiner 1610 determines whether a first coding unit to be decodedincludes a region that deviates from a boundary of a current picture.The determiner 1610 may determine whether the first coding unit to bedecoded comprises the region that deviates from the boundary of thecurrent picture based on a coding unit that has been previously decoded.For example, in FIG. 14, when the coding unit that has been immediatelydecoded is a ‘P−1’ coding unit, since the first coding unit to bedecoded extends over the boundary of the current picture, the determiner1610 may determine that the first coding unit includes the region thatdeviates from the boundary of the current picture.

In other words, the determiner 1610 determines whether the left andright boundary of the first coding unit to be currently decoded deviatesfrom the left or right boundary of the current picture or whether theupper or lower boundary of the first coding unit deviates from the upperor lower boundary of the current picture, thereby determining whetherthe first coding unit to be decoded extends over the boundary of thecurrent picture.

The parser 1620 receives an image bitstream and parses only dataregarding a second coding unit that does not deviate from the pictureboundary among second coding units generated by dividing the firstcoding unit, if it is determined that the first coding unit includes theregion that deviates from the boundary of the current picture. Thesecond coding unit may be a coding unit having a depth of ‘k+1’ that islarger than a depth of ‘k’ of the first coding unit. Also, if it isdetermined that the first coding unit does not include the region thatdeviates from the picture boundary, the parser 1620 parses all dataregarding the first coding unit.

When it is determined that the first coding unit includes the regionthat deviates from the picture boundary and the parser 1620 parses onlydata regarding the second coding unit that does not deviate from thepicture boundary, information about division of the first coding unit,for example, flag information may not be parsed. When division of thefirst coding unit that extends over the picture boundary is necessaryand information about division of the first coding unit is not encoded,there is no information to be parsed, and information about division ofthe first coding unit does not need to be parsed.

However, if it is determined that the first coding unit includes theregion that deviates from the picture boundary, division of the firstcoding unit is necessary and information about the division of the firstcoding unit is separately encoded, and information about the division ofthe first coding unit may be parsed.

Since only the residual values of the second coding unit that does notdeviate from the picture boundary are encoded, only data regarding thesecond coding unit that does not deviate from the picture boundary amongthe second coding units generated by dividing the first coding unit isparsed regardless of parsing the information about division of the firstcoding unit.

The decoder 1630 decodes data regarding the second coding unit that doesnot deviate from the boundary of the current picture parsed by theparser 1620. The decoder 1630 performs entropy decoding,inverse-quantization, and inverse transformation, for example,inverse-DCT, on the data regarding the second coding unit that does notdeviate from the boundary of the current picture so as to restore theresidual values and adds a prediction value that is generated byperforming intra or inter prediction on the second coding unit to therestored residual values so as to restore the second coding unit.

A method of setting an address of the coding unit that is used indecoding is the same as that of FIG. 14, and adjacent pixels that may beused for intra prediction during decoding are the same as those of FIGS.13A and 13B.

Information about an encoding mode of the first coding unit that is usedwhen the decoder 1630 performs decoding may be information about anencoding mode encoded depending on whether the first coding unitincludes the region that deviates from the boundary of the currentpicture, as described above with reference to FIGS. 18A through 18G.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image,according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 17, in Operation 1710, the apparatus 1600 for decodingan image determines whether a first coding unit to be decoded includes aregion that deviates from a boundary of a current picture. The apparatus1600 for decoding an image determines whether the right or left boundaryof the first coding unit deviates from the right or left boundary of thecurrent picture or whether the upper or lower boundary of the firstcoding unit deviates from the upper or lower boundary of the currentpicture by referring to the coding unit that has been previouslydecoded.

In Operation 1720, the apparatus 1600 for decoding an image parses dataregarding a second coding unit that does not deviate from the pictureboundary among second coding units generated by dividing the firstcoding unit based on the result of determination in Operation 1710. Ifit is determined in Operation 1710 that the first coding unit includesthe region that deviates from the boundary of the current picture, dataregarding a second coding unit that does not deviate from the pictureboundary among second coding units generated by dividing the firstcoding unit is parsed. As described above, the second coding unit may bea coding unit having a depth of ‘k+1’ that is larger than a depth of ‘k’of the first coding unit.

In Operation 1730, the apparatus 1600 for decoding an image decodes onlydata regarding the second coding unit that does not deviate from theboundary of the current picture parsed in Operation 1720. The apparatus1600 for decoding an image performs entropy decoding,inverse-quantization, and inverse transformation on the data regardingthe second coding unit that does not deviate from the picture boundaryso as to restore the residual values and adds prediction values that aregenerated as a result of prediction to the restored residual values soas to restore the second coding unit.

Information about an encoding mode of the first coding unit that is usedwhen the apparatus 1600 for decoding an image performs decoding may beinformation about an encoding mode encoded depending on whether thefirst coding unit includes the region that deviates from the boundary ofthe current picture, as described above with reference to FIGS. 18Athrough 18G.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 19, in Operation 1910, the apparatus 900 for encodingan image determines whether a first coding unit includes a region thatdeviates from a boundary of a current picture.

In Operation 1920, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image divides afirst coding unit into second coding units based on a result of thedetermination in Operation 1910. The first coding unit may be dividedinto a second coding unit having a depth of ‘k+1’ that is larger than adepth of ‘k’ of the first coding unit.

In Operation 1930, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image pads a regionthat deviates from the boundary of the second coding units generated asa result of the division in Operation 1920 with predetermined values.This will be described with reference to FIGS. 20A and 20B in detail.

FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate a method of encoding a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to an exemplary embodiment.

If the determiner 910 of the apparatus 900 for encoding an imagedetermines that a first coding unit 2020 extends over the pictureboundary, the controller 920 divides the first coding unit 2020 toobtain second coding units having a smaller size than that of the firstcoding unit 2020, i.e., second coding units having a larger depth thanthat of the first coding unit 2020. However, when the second coding unitis a minimum coding unit, the controller 920 cannot divide the secondcoding unit to obtain smaller coding units than the second coding unitand cannot divide the second coding unit any further. Thus, the secondcoding unit cannot be distinguished from a region that deviates from thepicture boundary or a region that does not deviate from the pictureboundary.

Thus, the encoder 930 pads the region that deviates from a boundary 2010among second coding units 2024 and 2028, as illustrated in FIG. 20B. Allof the pixel values of the region that deviates from the boundary 2010of the current picture are set to be ‘0’, or pixel values of the regionthat deviates from the boundary 2010 of the current picture are set tobe the same as adjacent pixel values of a region that does not deviatefrom the boundary 2010 of the current picture.

Referring back to FIG. 19, in Operation 1940, the apparatus for encodingan image 900 encodes at least one second coding unit including a regionpadded in Operation 1930.

The encoder 930 of the apparatus 900 for encoding an image generatesresidual values by predicting second coding units 2022 through 2028 andperforms frequency transformation on the residual values. The encoder930 performs quantization and entropy coding on frequency transformationcoefficients generated by performing frequency transformation, therebyencoding the second coding units 2022 through 2028.

When the second coding units 2024 and 2028 that extend over the boundary2010 of the current picture are predicted, all of the second encodingunits 2024 and 2028 may be predicted, or prediction may be performedonly in a region that does not deviate from the boundary 2010 of thecurrent picture. For example, when the second coding unit 2024 thatextends over the boundary 2010 of the current picture is 8×8, the secondcoding unit 2024 may be predicted to have a size of 8×8 including theregion that deviates from the boundary 2010 of the current picture or tohave a size of 4×8 that does not include the region that deviates fromthe boundary 2010 of the current picture.

In addition, all of the second coding units 2024 and 2028 that extendover the boundary 2010 of the current picture may be transformed, ortransformation may be performed only in a region that does not deviatefrom the boundary 2010 of the current picture.

For example, when a minimum coding unit 2024 that extends over theboundary 2010 of the current picture is 8×8, transformation may beperformed with respect to a size of 8×8 including the region thatdeviates from the boundary 2010 of the current picture. When a regionthat deviates from the boundary 2010 is predicted, the region thatdeviates from the boundary 2010 of the current picture includes residualvalues. Thus, transformation may be performed with respect to a size ofthe second coding unit. When the region that deviates from the boundary2010 of the current picture is not predicted and there are no residualvalues, the region that deviates from the boundary 2010 of the currentpicture may be set to an arbitrary residual value, for example, ‘0’, andtransformation may be performed in the size of the second coding unit.Since residual values in the region that deviates from the boundary 2010of the current picture are meaningless regardless of prediction,transformation may be performed by setting the residual values in theregion that deviates from the boundary 2010 of the current picture toarbitrary values having the highest efficiency in transformation.

The encoder 930 may also perform transformation with respect to a sizeof 4×8 excluding the region that deviates from the boundary 2010 of thecurrent picture. As described above, according to the exemplaryembodiments since the sizes of a coding unit, a prediction unit, and atransformation unit may be independently determined, transformation maybe optionally performed only in the region that does not deviate fromthe boundary 2010 of the current picture by using a transformation unithaving a smaller size than that of a minimum coding unit. As well asencoding the second coding unit in Operation 1940, the encoder 930 mayencode information about an encoding mode encoded depending on whetherthe second coding unit includes the region that deviates from theboundary 2010 of the current picture, as described above with referenceto FIGS. 18A and 18G.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 21, in Operation 2110, the determiner 1610 of theapparatus 1600 for decoding an image determines whether a first codingunit includes a region that deviates from a boundary of a currentpicture.

In Operation 2120, the parser 1620 of the apparatus for decoding animage 1600 parses data regarding second coding units including a paddedregion among the second coding units generated by dividing the firstcoding unit based on a result of the determination in Operation 2110. Asillustrated in FIG. 20A, when the second coding unit is a minimum codingunit and extends over the boundary of the current picture, some of thesecond coding unit is a region that deviates from the boundary of thecurrent picture. The region may be padded with a predetermined value, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 19. Thus, the parser 1620 of theapparatus 1600 for decoding an image parses data regarding second codingunits including the padded region.

In Operation 2130, the decoder 1630 of the apparatus 1600 for decodingan image decodes the second coding unit based on the data regarding thesecond coding unit parsed in Operation 2120. The decoder 1630 performsentropy decoding, inverse-quantization, and inverse transformation onthe data regarding the parsed second coding unit so as to restoreresidual values, and adds prediction values generated as a result ofprediction to the restored residual values so as to restore the secondcoding unit. The decoder 1630 may decode information about an encodingmode encoded depending on whether the second coding unit includes theregion that deviates from the boundary of the current picture, asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 18A and 18G.

Like in transformation described with reference to FIG. 19, inversetransformation may be performed on all second encoding units or only ina region that does not deviate from the boundary of the current picture.Also, prediction may be performed on all second encoding units or onlyin the region that does not deviate from the boundary of the currentpicture.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 22, in Operation 2210, the determiner 910 of theapparatus 900 for encoding an image determines whether a first codingunit includes a region that deviates from a boundary of a currentpicture.

In Operation 2220, the apparatus 900 for encoding an image pads a regionthat deviates from a boundary of the first coding unit based on a resultof the determination in Operation 2210, with a predetermined value. Thiswill be described in detail with reference to FIG. 23A.

FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate a method of encoding a coding unit of apicture boundary, according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 23A, when the determiner 910 of the apparatus 900 forencoding an image determines that a first coding unit 2320 extends overa boundary 2310 of a current picture, the encoder 930 pads a region 2322that deviates from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320. Allpixel values of a region that deviates from the boundary 2310 of thecurrent picture are set to ‘0’, or adjacent pixel values of the regionthat deviates from the boundary 2310 of the current picture are set tobe the same as adjacent pixel values of a region that does not deviatefrom the boundary 2010 of the current picture.

Referring back to FIG. 22, in Operation 2230, the encoder 930 of theapparatus 900 for encoding an image encodes the first coding unit 2320in which the region 2322 that deviates from the boundary 2310 of thefirst coding unit 2320 is padded in Operation 2220, in an encoding modein which a second coding unit having a smaller size than that of thefirst coding unit 2320 is used. If a rule for a padding method is sharedby an encoder and a decoder, the decoder may restore the padded region2322 without encoding the padded region 2322 of the first coding unit2320. Thus, for optional encoding of the second coding unit 2324 thatdoes not deviate from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320,the encoder 930 of the apparatus 900 for encoding an image encodes thefirst coding unit 2320 in an encoding mode in which the second codingunit having a smaller size than that of the first coding unit 2320 isused. This will be described with reference to FIG. 23B in detail.

Referring to FIG. 23B, the encoder 930 encodes the first coding unit2320 in an encoding mode in which second coding units 2322 through 2328having smaller sizes than the size of the first coding unit 2320 areused. The encoder 930 predicts each of the second coding units 2322through 2328 according to the encoding mode in which the second codingunits 2322 through 2328 are used and performs frequency transformationon residual values generated according to a result of prediction. Theencoder 930 performs quantization on transformation coefficients thatare generated as a result of transformation and then performs entropyencoding thereon.

When each of the second coding units is encoded, prediction may beperformed only on second coding units 2336 and 2338 of a region thatdoes not deviate from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320,and second coding units 2336 and 2338 of the region that does notdeviate from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320 may beencoded based on a result of the prediction. Residual values may be setto a predetermined value, for example, ‘0’, without performingprediction on the second coding units 2332 and 2334 of the region thatdeviates from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320.

In addition, only information about a motion vector and a pixel valueregarding the second coding units 2336 and 2338 of the region that doesnot deviate from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320 may beencoded, and information about a motion vector and a pixel valueregarding the second coding units 2332 and 2334 of the region thatdeviates from the boundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320 may not beencoded. Information about the pixel value may be transformationcoefficients, for example, discrete cosine coefficients, which aregenerated by performing transformation on pixel values included in eachof the second coding units 2332 through 2338.

In Operation 2230, the encoder 930 may also encode information about anencoding mode depending on whether the second coding unit includes theregion that deviates from the boundary, as described above withreference to FIGS. 18A and 18G.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding an image,according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 24, in Operation 2410, the determiner 1610 of theapparatus 1600 for decoding an image determines whether a first codingunit includes a region that deviates from a boundary of a currentpicture.

In Operation 2420, the parser 1620 of the apparatus 1600 for decoding animage parses data regarding the first coding unit including a regionthat is padded with a predetermined value based on a result of thedetermination in Operation 2410.

The parsed data may include only information about the second codingunits 2336 and 2338 of the region that does not deviate from theboundary 2310 of the first coding unit 2320 illustrated in FIG. 23B. Theparsed data may also include only information about a motion vector anda pixel value regarding the second coding units 2336 and 2338 of theregion that does not deviate from the boundary 2310 of the first codingunit 2320.

In Operation 2430, the decoder 1630 of the apparatus 1600 for decodingan image decodes the first coding unit according to an encoding mode inwhich second coding units having smaller sizes than that of the firstcoding unit are used, by using the parsed data in Operation 2420. Thedecoder 1630 decodes the first coding unit by performing entropydecoding, inverse-quantization, inverse transformation, and predictionon the second coding units of the first coding unit according to anencoding mode in which the second coding units are used. The decoder1630 may decode information about an encoding mode encoded depending onwhether the second coding unit includes the region that deviates fromthe boundary and may decode the second coding unit according to thedecoded information about the encoding mode, as described above withreference to FIGS. 18A and 18G.

When the parsed data includes only information about the second codingunits 2336 and 2338 of the region that does not deviate from theboundary 2310, the decoder 1630 decodes only the second coding units2336 and 2338 of the region that does not deviate from the boundary 2310according to an encoding mode in which the second encoding units areused.

While the exemplary embodiments have been particularly shown anddescribed with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes inform and details may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the exemplary embodiments as defined by the followingclaims. In addition, a system according to the exemplary embodiments canbe implemented using a computer readable code in a computer readablerecording medium.

For example, an apparatus for encoding an image and an apparatus fordecoding an image, according to exemplary embodiments, may include a buscoupled to units of each of the devices shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9,and 16 and at least one processor connected to the bus. In addition, amemory coupled to at least one processor for performing commands asdescribed above can be included and connected to the bus to store thecommands and received messages or generated messages.

The computer readable recording medium is any data storage device thatcan store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system.Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read-onlymemory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes,floppy disks and, optical data storage devices, etc. The computerreadable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupledcomputer systems so that the computer readable code is stored andexecuted in a distributed fashion.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of decoding an image, the methodcomprising: when a first coding unit comprises a region that deviatesfrom a boundary of the image to be decoded, splitting the first codingunit into a plurality of second coding units; when the first coding unitdoes not comprise the region that deviates from the boundary of theimage, splitting the first coding unit into the plurality of secondcoding units, which comprises: obtaining split information for the firstcoding unit from a bitstream, when the split information indicates asplit for the first coding unit, splitting the first coding unit intothe plurality of second coding units using the split information; andwhen a second coding unit, among the plurality of second coding units,is not split according to the split information, decoding the secondcoding unit, wherein: the image is split into a plurality of maximumcoding units according to information about a maximum size of a codingunit, a maximum coding unit, of the plurality of maximum coding units,is hierarchically split into one or more coding units of depthsincluding at least one of a current depth and a lower depth, accordingto the split information, when the split information indicates a splitfor the current depth, the first coding unit of the current depth issplit into four rectangular second coding units of the lower depth,independently from neighboring coding units, and when the splitinformation indicates a non-split of the lower depth, one or moreprediction units are obtained from a second coding unit of the lowerdepth.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whethera left boundary or a right boundary of the first coding unit deviatesfrom a left boundary or a right boundary of the image.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising determining whether an upper boundary or alower boundary of the first coding unit deviates from an upper boundaryor a lower boundary of the image.
 4. An apparatus for encoding an image,the apparatus comprising: a determiner which determines whether a firstcoding unit comprises a region that deviates from a boundary of an imageto be encoded; a controller which divides the first coding unit toobtain second coding units when the first coding unit comprises theregion that deviates from the boundary; and an encoder which encodes,from among the second coding units obtained as a result of the dividing,only at least one second coding unit that does not comprise the regionthat deviates from the boundary of the image, wherein: the image issplit into a plurality of maximum coding units, a maximum coding unit ofthe plurality of maximum coding units is hierarchically split into oneor more coding units of depths including at least one of a current depthand a lower depth, and the first coding unit of the current depth issplit into the second coding units of the lower depth independently fromneighboring coding units, and when a second coding unit among the atleast one second coding unit is not split any more, one or moreprediction units are obtained from the second coding unit.
 5. Anapparatus for decoding an image, the apparatus comprising: a determinerwhich, when a first coding unit comprises a region that deviates from aboundary of the image to be decoded, splits the first coding unit into aplurality of second coding units; and a decoder which, when a secondcoding unit, among the plurality of second coding units, is not split,decodes the second coding unit, wherein: when the first coding unit doesnot comprise the region that deviates from the boundary of the image,the determiner obtains split information for the first coding unit froma bitstream, when the split information indicates a split for the firstcoding unit, the determiner splits the first coding unit into theplurality of second coding units using the split information; and whenthe second coding unit is not split according to the split information,the decoder decodes the second coding unit, the image is split into aplurality of maximum coding units according to information about amaximum size of a coding unit, a maximum coding unit of the plurality ofmaximum coding units is hierarchically split into one or more codingunits of depths including at least one of a current depth and a lowerdepth, according to the split information, when the split informationindicates a split for the current depth, the first coding unit of thecurrent depth is split into four rectangular second coding units of thelower depth, independently from neighboring coding units, when the splitinformation indicates a non-split of the lower depth, one or moreprediction units are obtained from a second coding unit.